1- Introduction to Family Arecaceae

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿The Arecaceae are a botanical family of perennial lianas, shrubs, and trees commonly known as palm trees. (Due to historical usage, the family is alternatively called Palmae or Palmaceae.) They are flowering plants, the only family in the monocotorderArecales. Roughly 202genera with around 2600species are currently known (on about 3,000 species), most of them restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves arranged at the top of an unbranched stem. However, many palms are exceptions, and in fact exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics. As well as being morphologically diverse, palms also inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts. The Arecaceae are woody shrubs, vines, or trees that are further characterized by having large or very large leaves, each with a tubular sheathing base that typically splits open on one side at maturity. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, and palmately or pinnately cleft to once or twice compound. The inflorescence is usually paniculate and is typically subtended by one or more bracts or spathes that may become woody at maturity. The flowers are actinomorphic, generally small, and are bisexual or more often unisexual. The perianth usually consists of two whorls of 3 distinct or connate segments each, often distinguished primarily by size, the outer series or calyx being the smaller. The androecium consists typically of 6 distinct stamens in two whorls of 3 each but sometimes comprises up to several hundred variously connate or adnate stamens. The gynoecium is syncarpous or apocarpous. Syncarpous forms consist of a single compound pistil of usually 3 carpels, 1 or 3 styles, and a superior ovary with 3 locules, each containing a single basal, axile, or apical ovule. Apocarpous, forms consist of usually 3 simple pistils, each with a superior ovary containing one locule with a single basal to apical ovule. The fruit is usually a drupe. Palms are indeed tropical plants. Almost all species are native to tropical forests and very few can tolerate frost or dry soil. The existence of palms in the Sonoran Desert is one of many indications of its tropical connection. Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families. They have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms, and palms are also widely used in landscaping for their exotic appearance, making them one of the most economically important plants. In many historical cultures, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, and fertility. Today, palms remain a popular symbol for the tropics and vacations.﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

2- Taxonomy

﻿+ Kingdom: Plantae+ Division: Angiosperms(The Flowering Plants)+ Class: Liliopsida(Monocotyledons)+ Subclass: Arecidae The Subclass Arecidae, the smallest and least homogeneous subclass in the angiosperms, includes four orders, of which three have only a single family and the fourth has three families. Together the six families encompass about 4,800 species. + Superorder: Areciforae Arranged from largest to smallest: (1) The Order Arecales - Including 1 family: - The Family Arecaceae, or Palmae, or Palmaceae, with 202 genera and about 2,800 species; (2) The Order Arales - Including three families: - The Family Araceae with 110 genera and 1,100 species; - The Family Lemnaceae with 6 genera and 29 species; - The Family Acoraceae with 1 genus and 2 species; (3) The Order Pandanales - Including one family: -The Family Pandanaceae with 3 genera and about 700 species; (4) The Order Cyclanthales - Including one family: - The Family Cyclanthaceae with 11 genera and about 200 species. The families were originally placed together on the basis of a woody habit with leaves in terminal clusters and presumably similar inflorescence structure. Subsequent study, however, has revealed that the architecture, leaf, inflorescence, flowers, and seeds are structurally different in these families. The classification into separate orders reflects their distinctiveness.+ Order Arecales: Order of flowering plants that contains only one family, the palms (Palmae). About 202 genera with 2,800 species are known. Palms are a monophyletic group of plants, meaning the group consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants. Extensive taxonomic research on palms began with botanist H.E. Moore, who organized palms into 15 major groups based mostly on general morphological characteristics. The following classification, proposed by N.W. Uhl and J. Dransfield in 1987, is a revision of Moore's classification that organizes palms into six subfamilies. A few general traits of each subfamily are listed. Palms are a monophyletic group of plants, meaning the group consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants. Extensive taxonomic research on palms began with botanist H.E. Moore, who organized palms into 15 major groups based mostly on general morphological characteristics. The following classification, proposed by N.W. Uhl and J. Dransfield in 1987, is a revision of Moore's classification that organizes palms into six subfamilies. A few general traits of each subfamily are listed.+ FamilyArecaceae = Palmae =Palmaceae﻿﻿1- Subfamily Arecoideae﻿ The Subfamily Arecoideae are the largest subfamily, with six diverse tribes (Areceae - Caryoteae - Cocoeae -Geonomeae - Iriarteeae - Podococceae) containing over 100 genera. All tribes have pinnate or bipinnate leaves and flowers arranged in groups of three, with a central pistillate and two staminate flowers. 1.1- TribeAreceae (about 100 genera) – Vietnamese: Tông Cau Selected important genera:Archontophoenix - Bangalow palm (Vietnamese: Cau cảnh)Areca - Betel nut palm (Vietnamese: Cau)Euterpe - Cabbage heart palm, açaí palmHowea - Kentia palmRoystonea - Royal palm﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿1.2- Tribe Cocoseae (about 20 genera) – Vietnamese: Tông Dừa﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ Selected important genera:Bactris - Pupunha - (Vietnamese: Chi Cọ Nam Mỹ)Beccariophoenix - Beccariophoenix alfredii- (Vietnamese: Chi Dừa Madagascar)Butia - Pindo or Jelly Palm (Vietnamese: Chi Cọ dầu Nam Mỹ)Cocos - Coconut (Vietnamese: Chi Dừa)Elaeis - Oil palm - (Vietnamese: Chi Cọ dầu) Euterpe - Cabbage heart palm, açaí palmJubaea - Chilean wine palm (Vietnamese: Chi Dừa rượu Chi Lê)Parajubaea - Bolivian coconut palmsSyagrus- Queen palm﻿﻿﻿1.3- TribeGeonomeae (about 6 genera) – Vietnamese: Tông Cọ Cảnh Nam Mỹ﻿﻿﻿ Selected important genera:AsterogyneWelfia1.4- TribeHyophorbeae (about 5 genera)- Vietnamese: Tông Cọ rừng Selected important genera:ChamaedoreaHyophorbe﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿1.5- TribeIriarteeae (about 5 genera)﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ Selected important genera:SocrateaWettinia﻿﻿1.6- TribePodococceae (only 1 genus)﻿﻿ Selected important genera:Podococcus﻿﻿2- Subfamily Calamoideae﻿﻿ The Subfamily Calamoideae includes the climbing palms, such as rattans. The leaves are usually pinnate; derived characters (synapomorphies) include spines on various organs, organs specialized for climbing, an extension of the main stem of the leaf-bearing reflexed spines, and overlapping scales covering the fruit and ovary. ﻿﻿2.1- TribeCalameae (about 18 genera) – Vietnamese: Tông Mây﻿﻿ The Rattan palms (roughly 600 species) Selected important genera:Calamus- Rattan palm - (Vietnamese: Chi Song Mây)Metroxylon- Sago palmRaphia - Raffia palm (Vietnamese: Chi Cọ Raffia) Salacca - Salak - (Vietnamese: Chi Dây trái mây) ﻿﻿﻿﻿2.2- Tribe Lepidocaryeae (about 3 genera)﻿﻿﻿﻿ Selected important genera:MauritiellaMauritia - Moriche palm﻿﻿﻿﻿3- Subfamily Ceroxyloideae﻿﻿﻿﻿ The Subfamily Ceroxyloideae has small to medium-sized flowers, spirally arranged, with a gynoecium of three joined carpels. ﻿﻿﻿3.1- TribeCeroxyleae (4 genera)﻿﻿﻿Ceroxylon, Juania, Oraniopsis, Ravenea3.2- Tribe Phytelephanteae (3 genera)Ammandra, Aphandra, Phytelephas﻿﻿﻿﻿3.3- Tribe Cyclospatheae (1 genus)﻿﻿﻿﻿Pseudophoenix﻿﻿﻿4- SubfamilyCoryphoideae﻿﻿﻿ The Subfamily Coryphoideae are the most diverse subfamily, and are a paraphyletic group, meaning all members of the group share a common ancestor, but the group does not include all the ancestor's descendants. Most palms in this subfamily have palmately lobed leaves and solitary flowers with three, or sometimes four carpels. The fruit normally develops from only one carpel. ﻿﻿4.1- TribeBorasseae (8 genera) – Vietnamese: Tông Cọ lá rẻ quạt﻿﻿ Selected important genera:Bismarckia - Bismarck palm – (Vietnamese: Cọ lá rẻ quạt)Borassus - Palmyra palm, sugar palm, toddy palm- (Vietnamese: Chi Thốt nốt)Hyphaene (including the doum palm)- (Vietnamese: Cọ Châu Phi). Latania - Latan palm﻿4.2- Tribe Caryoteae (3 genera)﻿Arenga, Caryota, Wallichia4.3- Tribe Chuniophoeniceae (newer classification) (4 genera)Chuniophoenix, Kerriodoxa, Nannorrhops, Tahina﻿﻿﻿﻿4.4- TribeCorypheae (30 genera) – (Vietnamese: Tông Cọ)﻿﻿﻿﻿ Selected important genera:Copernicia - Carnauba wax palm- (Vietnamese: Chi Cọ Nam Mỹ)Corypha - Gebang palm, Buri palm or Talipot palmRhapidophyllum - Needle PalmSaba - PalmettosSabal - PalmettoSerenoa - Saw PalmettoLivistona - Cabbage palmTrachycarpus - Windmill palm, Kumaon palmVeitchia - Manila palm, Joannis palm﻿﻿﻿4.5- TribePhoeniceae (1 genus)﻿﻿﻿Phoenix - Date palms – (Vietnamese: Chi Chà là) ﻿﻿﻿4.6- Tripe Livistoneae﻿﻿﻿ Selected important genera:Washingtonia - Fan palm﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿5-Subfamily Nypoideae﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ The Subfamily Nypoideae contains only one species, Nypa fruticans, which has large, pinnate leaves. The fruit is unusual in that it floats, and the stem is dichotomously branched, also unusual in palms. Selected impoertant genera:Nypa - Nipa palm - Vietnamese: Chi dừa nước﻿﻿﻿﻿6- Subfamily Phytelephantoideae (5 genera)﻿﻿﻿﻿ The Subfamily Phytelephantoideae are a monoecious subfamily. Members of this group have distinct monopodial flower clusters. Other distinct features include a gynoecium with five to 10 joined carpels, and flowers with more than three parts per whorl. Fruits are multiple-seeded and have multiple parts. ﻿